Day 4: Skateboarding
"I'm surprised they serve popcorn at these things," Xion muses.
"Really? I thought it was a sporting staple," Kairi says.
"I mean, it makes sense now that I think about it, but I've always associated popcorn with movies, you know? It feels weird eating it outside of a theater or on the couch in front of the TV."
"I agree with Xion," Naminé says.
"You girls haven't been to enough of these things," Olette declares. "Popcorn and sports are meant to be!" She tosses a piece down the bleacher. It bounces off of Xion's knee.
It's a slightly-too-warm day with no wind. The heat isn't the best for the skateboarding tournament, but it could be worse. Everyone has dressed accordingly in shorts and t-shirts or tank tops with sunglasses and sunblock to counter the sun's rays. The burning metal of the bleachers has thankfully dulled after the initial seating.
"Can you see the guys?" Olette asks.
Kairi brings her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. She forgot her sunglasses, but she was never a big fan of the ones she got for free at a concert. She'd rather not see everything through a black sheen anyway.
"I can see Sora," Naminé says. She points to the far side of the skate park. "He's just there."
"Where's Roxas?" Kairi sits up straighter and tilts a little to the left, trying to look around some of the structures.
"Oh wait! There he is. Just beyond Sora, talking to the girl with the blue highlights."
Kairi's eyes hone in on the blonde. He's got his helmet under his arm. The girl he's talking to is pointing out something about the art on her board. He smiles and laughs, and Kairi feels a little pang in her heart.
"You ok?" Naminé whispers to her. She's a little more aware of the crush Kairi harbors than the others.
"What? Everything's fine," Kairi laughs off her best friend's worry who sees right through her.
It's no big deal, though. Really! It's fine. Kairi's totally fine. It's just…she's just bummed she didn't get to wish Roxas good luck before the competition. He and Sora had to go super early for registration this morning. She'll just have to congratulate him when he wins everything like everybody is expecting. Although, there is some new out-of-town competition this year, raising the stakes. Kairi has never seen that girl before. She's probably one of the new ones.
Soon enough the first event begins. Neither Roxas nor Sora are competing in the first couple of heats. It's unfortunately going to be a long day of several different events. The crowd isn't even that big yet. They all plan on being here for sure for the last hour for the freestyle event. Riku once called it the "money maker". The one thing that brings in a large crowd to buy tickets. And popcorn.
Sora is up before Roxas. The sudden uproar from the four girls in the front row of bleachers causes a few stares. However, Sora looks over, laughs, and waves before setting himself up on the edge of the half-pipe and waits for the ok before he drops in.
His run is an admirable one. Kairi still doesn't have an eye for this sort of thing, but she knows that it's a good run if the person doesn't crash—bail. That's the word for it. If the person bails, wipes out, whatever, then it's alright. The judges are the picky ones.
And wow are they picky. The scores are shown, and, judging by Olette's reaction, it's not the greatest.
"But it's really not that bad," she insists. "He did a good job. It just wasn't a wow run."
Roxas is next. When his name is called, the same cacophony of cheers happens from the front row. This time the rest of the crowd goes crazy as well. Roxas's reputation is well known, and for good reason. He doesn't seem to notice much, though. Even from where she's sitting, Kairi sees his shy smile and slight downturn of his head. Classic Roxas.
Then Roxas's run begins and it's a rush watching him. It really is. It's like it comes naturally to him, but his friends know he almost constantly has his skateboard with him, even if he isn't riding it. He's so familiar with it, it might as well be an extension of himself. And the judges take notice as well, giving him a decent score. Not the highest he's gotten at this event, but decent enough.
Everyone cheers once more. Roxas looks over to the crowd and waves. For a brief, wonderful moment, Kairi thinks they lock eyes, and her heart leaps in her chest.
O0o0o0o0o
There are several more events scheduled. Halfway through, Kairi, Olette, and Xion make their way to the concession stand for refueling. Naminé remains at the bleachers, saving their seats.
Olette practically bounces up to the counter. "Four lemonades, two pretzels, two bags of popcorn, and a serving of nachos please." She lays out her munny, and the other two girls do the same to cover the full cost.
"You ever think the number of events we go to for these two will rot our insides because of all the junk we consume while here?" Xion asks.
Kairi laughs. "Remember that one time Ventus vomited after being dared to down that slushy in under a minute?"
Olette laughs but Xion shivers. "He can never apologize enough for throwing up on my nachos." A pause. "Is it too late to retract my nacho order?"
"Yep!" Kairi says. She is handed the two bags of popcorn. They have the pretzels too. Just waiting on the rest. "Should we celebrate after Roxas wins?"
Xion laughs this time. "Not even going to pretend he might not?"
"Oh please. He hasn't not placed once since he turned fourteen. That's three years of winning!"
"Three years of celebrations too," Olette says. "There isn't any way we haven't celebrated his victories."
"We could always go to the clocktower," Kairi suggests. "That seems to be his favorite."
Xion shakes her head. "But we do that every day anyway! That's no way to celebrate."
"We should give him something maybe," Olette says.
Kairi sighs. " But what would we give him? What's something he hasn't actually got…or won…or wants."
Olette's brows knit together, and she nearly goes cross-eyed from how hard she thinks. She takes the drink holder with the four cups. Xion on the other hand laughs as she grabs her nachos. "Well there's—nevermind."
"Ah-ah! No backing out. What were you going to say?" Kairi asks.
She regrets that a second later when Xion says, "Someone could kiss him," and Olette follows that up with a shriek and says, "Kairi, you should totally kiss him! That would be hilarious. Can you imagine his face?"
Kairi's own face burns—and not because of the sun. "Don't be ridiculous. He wouldn't want that."
"Are you kidding? He'd love it!" Olette gushes. "Getting kissed by the pretty girl he's been eyeing? Best. Reward. Ever!"
Kairi scoffs and walks faster back to their seats, trying really, really hard not to be embarrassed…and also not to like the idea.
Olette gets Xion in on it. "Come on, Xion. It was your idea. How should she do it? Right after the announcement? Later when they're together in private?"
Xion gladly goes with Olette's half-serious teasing. "I think when he gets the trophy. It'll be like icing on the cake."
"So romantic, I love it!"
"What's romantic?" Naminé asks.
"Naminé, help me!" Kairi rushes to sit down next to her only ally. "They're being crazy."
Naminé takes the pretzel offered to her. "How so?"
"Kairi's going to kiss Roxas after he wins!" Olette says in a rush.
"I am not!"
"What?"
Xion is the one to slow down and explain the situation as the girls redistribute the snacks. As she explains, Naminé's face remains neutral. She's always been good at that.
"See?" Kairi says when Xion finishes. "See how crazy they are?"
"I think it's a great idea."
"What?!"
"I think he would like that," is all Naminé says in response.
"Am I the only sane one here?"
Olette waves off her comment. "Oh, come on."
"Think about it," Xion says. "He's shy. Maybe a very obvious hint would be what he needs to get his butt going on asking you out."
"You think he'd ask me out?" Kairi can't help the hope in her voice.
All three girls react appropriately—a scoff, a sigh, a roll of the eyes.
"Ok, ok. How about this? Just kiss his cheek. You're more likely to do that."
"Ooo, I second Xion's idea!" Olette raises her hand.
"How about we drop it now?" Kairi says, somewhat frantically. "There are more events. He might not win."
Kairi can barely hear Naminé's whisper underneath her breath, "Yeah, and the ocean might not be blue anymore."
O0o0o0o0o0o0o
The crowd erupts. With a beautiful finale, Roxas takes the win. His knack for the sport shone brightly throughout the whole day, not wavering a moment.
Kairi's heart is pounding in her chest, even before Roxas glances over towards the girls. Sora swings an arm around his shoulders and guides him over to the other players where he is showered with congratulations and praise.
Kairi can't stop her thoughts from sprinting around her mind. Maybe she should kiss him. Maybe? A cheek kiss isn't a bad idea, Kairi supposes. It could be interpreted as a friendly gesture. Yes. A cheek kiss it is.
"Guess you'd better get yourself ready," Olette quickly teases as all four girls along with most of the crowd makes there way closer to the stage where the trophies will be handed off.
Kairi doesn't even get a chance to make a face at her because a moment later they're there, in front of the stage, looking up at the proud smiles of the winners. When Sora's third place trophy is offered to him, the four girls once again make a racket that can be heard even over the applause. Then the cheers for the second-place winner. And finally, Roxas steps forward and accepts the large, gold-painted trophy. The crowd goes wild. Roxas has gotten quite the following in his three years of competing.
Kairi's heart swells with pride for her friend. He should be proud of himself. He has worked hard for this, practicing constantly, but he always makes time for his friends, and is always super sweet about everything, even when he isn't saying much, just his eyes say so much—
Roxas takes the small leap off the stage with Sora right behind. He shuffles his way through the crowd directly towards the girls. He makes eye contact with Kairi, and she wonders if somehow his smile got wider which is crazy because he already looks so happy and she's so filled with happiness for him because he's so great and—
And then he's right there and Kairi feels a hand lightly push her from behind which is enough convincing because she reaches out, grabs the collar of Roxas's sweaty t-shirt, pulls him down with barely a second to see his eyebrows come together in confusion before she leans up and kisses him right on the mouth.
It's quick and slightly off-set, and when she pulls away the shock on his face is very plain to see. Kairi hurries to follow it up with, "Congratulations!" in case he doesn't actually like her, then she has a cover if he asks later why she did it that she was caught up in the moment and wanted to celebrate.
Then the other three girls shriek and jump for joy and surround Roxas. Each hug him in turn and then Sora who is laughing. Kairi suspects she knows what he's laughing at, but she refuses to let anything else make her feel more embarrassed than she already is. She pushes through the whirlwind going on in her right now and plans on just celebrating.
O0o0o0o0o0o
It takes a while for Roxas to break away from the crowd. There are a lot of people who want to talk to him. A few people hand him their business cards which is not something new, but Roxas has yet to take a deal so everyone is still vying for his business. Even Sora is handed a couple of cards.
By the time they do manage to head out, it's nearly sunset. Olette has already called the others who couldn't make it to the competition, and they plan on meeting at the Clock Tower to once again celebrate. The group coming from the skate park is tasked with getting the sea salt ice cream.
As they're walking, Kairi glances over her shoulder at Roxas who she sees is staring directly back at her. She snaps back to facing forward.
"He's been looking at you," Naminé whispers to her. "I'd say that's a good sign."
"I just wish we were passed the awkward. I want to talk to him to know what he thinks then I can move on and stop feeling like my heart is going to burst," Kairi murmurs back.
Naminé looks back then smiles at Kairi. "As you wish."
"What—?"
"Hey, Sora!" Naminé goes back and grabs Sora's hand. She doesn't pull him away from Roxas, but she takes Sora's full attention with whatever it is she's saying. Kairi keeps walking, wondering if Roxas will take the opening.
However, Naminé's move might have come too late. They're already at the storefront. Everyone takes two sea salt ice creams each. Kairi grabs her two, one in each hand, and turns to head towards the clocktower when someone grabs her elbow. Kairi's heart leaps in her chest because she knows before she turns to look that Roxas is the one who stops her.
He's smiling at her…sort of. He's glancing between her and the rest of their friends who continue walking away. A few more seconds, and then he speaks with no ears to overhear.
"Hey, so, um…"
Kairi could almost laugh at his nervousness if it wasn't for her own choking her.
"I was—so that—um, when you…"
"It's ok," Kairi says quickly, realizing where this is going. It was only a congratulations! No need to make a big deal of it. Kairi stamps down her disappointment. "Really, I just wanted to—"
"Would you like to go out with me? Sometime?" Roxas says this just as quickly, like he wants to get the words out before anything can convince him otherwise.
Kairi blinks. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Roxas says. He fiddles with his skateboard. "I think you're pretty cool and, well, what happened earlier kind of…I don't know, it was also cool, and I'd like it to happen again."
"I'd like that too," Kairi hears herself saying. "And to go out with you—yes to the date."
Kairi is sure the smile spreading across her face is ridiculously big, but she thinks that's ok because it's mirroring Roxas's massive smile.
"Cool," he says.
"Cool," Kairi says. She hands him one of her ice creams. He takes it, and they start walking towards the clock tower.
O0o0o0o0o0o
Later, Naminé exchanges knowing looks with Olette and Xion when they see Kairi and Roxas sitting next to one another, talking, laughing, and smiling only at each other.